Full human-affairs cast: Month General, heaven–earth plates, Four Ke, Three Chuan, and Twelve Generals.
One matter only: the more specific, the clearer the useful gods in the Three Chuan.
Cast by true hour: default now, or the hour of the event. Month General follows solar terms (zhongqi); Zi hour starts next day at 23:00.
Read layers: Three Chuan first (onset → shift → close), then day-stem upper god (self) and day-branch upper god (other/matter); expand Four Ke and plates when needed.